1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a small industrial electronic imaging camera comprising a connection mechanism for connecting an external interface cable, which is preferably applied to a machine vision system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a small electronic imaging camera having a box type housing structure having edges which are, for example, about 20 to 30 mm long, i.e., a so-called microcamera in a machine vision system, a large pace is occupied by external interface connectors in the housing, and therefore, there is a difficulty in maintaining spaces for mounting external interface connectors at a plurality of portions in the housing. An external interface connector is therefore provided and fixed to one portion of the housing. A specific example will be an external interface connector provided in a back face (rear face) part of a box-type camera housing in a manner that an external interface cable is led from a back face (rear face) of the box-type camera housing. Therefore, according to the prior art, the external interface cable has to be led in one leading direction, and the leading direction of the cable cannot be changed. Therefore, for example, a degree of freedom is insufficient for changing camera configuration settings, such as changes to mount positions, a change of a monitor target, and changes to a camera configuration. Further, a position where the external interface connector is attached is fixed, and cause a problem in general versatility of products. Further, in order to simplify a connection. configuration of an external interface cable (or to integrate camera functions), the aforementioned small electronic imaging camera called a microcamera is demanded to have a mount structure which contains, in one single camera housing, each of a control board for controlling a sensor board and a power supply board for controlling supply of an operation power for the control board, in addition to a sensor board where a solid-state imaging element (area image sensor) is mounted. However, the small electronic imaging camera called a microcamera having the box-type housing structure, an imaging chamber formed in the camera housing is very narrow, and there is a difficulty in maintaining a mount space for containing the aforementioned control board and power supply board.
There is a video camera in which a connector pivot mechanism which can be pivoted about two axes perpendicular to an exterior housing is provided as a variable mechanism which can change a cable leading direction of a camera so as to provide a degree of freedom for a cable connection direction of a connector (see Patent Literature 1). Although the video camera provided with the connector pivot mechanism allows the cable leading direction to be changed, a mechanism which pivotally supports a connector provided with wires is complex and causes a problem in economy and reliability. When the video camera is applied to a microcamera having a box-type structure as described above, there is a difficulty in maintaining mount spaces. Further, even if leading directions of the cable are changeable, mounting parts of the connector are fixed to predetermined positions of the housing, and cause a problem in the degree of freedom and the general versatility as described above.